Tuesday, November 10, 2015

I’ve got all kinds of medical stuff going on at the moment which maybe I’ll tell you about some time.

What I will tell you today is that I went to hospital yesterday for an uncomfortable and intrusive medical procedure. There was no delay in the waiting room, all the staff were kind, respectful and efficient, I was outwardly calm and well-behaved, I was there for an hour and a quarter in total; and I hated it.

I have come to realise that doctors can do whatever they like to me if I am unconscious (and they have done lots), but I loathe it when people mess with my body when I am awake. It has nothing to do with embarrassment. It’s the intrusion of my very personal space that upsets me, which is odd when I so often spill my emotional guts on here.

Dave was very caring and indulgent and wanting to cheer me up, let me buy a hot roast pork sandwich to eat in the car on the way home, even though he finds the smell obnoxious. And I went to bed for the afternoon and binge watched Downton Abbey on the iPad. ( I have so far watched none this year.)

Today I am fine. Today I shall go out on my bike on the Trail despite the wind and the looming skies. One life: live it.

(You have no idea what pleasure I get from using colons and semi-colons on an informal blog. When I use them I always think – Yay! – it’s my blog, and I can do what I like!)

And now you’re not only probably calling me a baby, you think I’m a punctuation weirdo as well. Which is fine.

And there was I ... transported by your photos .... back to a summer holiday we had in your area .... cycling along the monsal trail..... stopping at the other end to visit the cafe there (where they hire out bikes).... sheltering under a tree to during a light shower .... all manner of lovely flowers along the side..... returning to the station cafe / bookshop where we had left the car .... but it was summer ... and now perhaps its colder and windier ... and finally the thought of falling into soot - and acompanying bruising - has almost dispelled yearnings to be there today! Hope bruising not serious. Does your bike have a name? Is it OK? (Mine is called Wanda 2)Jen

My bruises are minimal, thanks. The soot appears to have come out of my clothes. I THINK the bike is fine - I managed to ride home on it. Had it been Dave who came off his bike, the state of the bike would have been first on the agenda to assess. In my case it was bruises! it does not have a name.